An Essay on Man: To which are Added, the Universal Prayer, and Other ...

Shall then this verse to future age pretend Thou wert my guide, philosopher, and friend ? 390 That urg’d by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art From sounds to things, from fancy to the heart: For wit’s false mirror held up nature’s light; Show'd erring pride, whateven is, Is Right: That reason, passion, answer one great aim ; 895. That true self-love and social are the same : That virtue only makes our bliss below, And all our knowledge is, ourselves to know.

Rapt into future times, the bard begun; A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a Son! From Jesse’s root behold a branch arise, Whose sacred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies: Th’ HEthereal Spirit o'er its leaves shall move, And on its top descends the mystic dove, Ye heav'ns ! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r? The sick and weak the healing plant shall aid, From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade. All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail, Returning justice lift alone her scale; Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, And white rob’d Innocence from heav'n descend, Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn; Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born' See Nature hastes, her earliest wreathes to bring, With all the incense of the breathing spring;

See lofty Lebanon his head advance, See nodding forests on the mountains dance, See spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise, And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies! Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers; Prepare the way ! a God, a God appears: A God, a God! the vocal hills reply, The rocks proclaim th” approaching Deity. Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies! Sink down ye mountains, and, ye vallies, rise! With heads declin’d, ye cedars, homage pay : Be smooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods give way! The Saviour comes by ancient bards foretold ; Hear him, ye deaf! and, all ye blind, behold ! He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day; 'Tis he th’ obstructed paths of sound shall clear, And bid new music charm th’ unfolding ear: The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, And leap exulting like the bounding roe. No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear; from ev’ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear. In adamantine chains shall Death be bound, And hell's grim tyrant feel th’ eternal wound. As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care, . Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air, Explores the lost, the wand'ring sheep directs, By day o’ersees them, and by night protects: The tender lambs he raises in his arms, feeds from his hand, and in his boson warms; F